Trap gun



Sept. 15, 1925.

F. R. $IMON ET AL TRAP GUN Filed May 25. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATE S'PATENT OFFICE.

FRED R. SIMON AND ALBERT A. SIMON, OF VERDON, NEBRASKA,

TRAP GUN.

To cZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, FRED R. SIMoN and rkLBEJT A. SIMON, citizens of the United States, residing at Verdon, in the county'of Richardson and State of Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trap- Guns, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to atrap gun, the general object of the invention being to provide a gun for killing gophers and the like by placing the gun in the runways of the animals and by having the trigger mechanism of the gun actuated by dirt thrown l3 thereon by an animal.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby a cartridge can be easily and quickly placed in the barrel of the gun.

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable supporting leg for the gun and also to provide means for usting a tension of the spring which actuates the hammer. This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, il-

lustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing our invention in detail, ref erence will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the sev-- eral views, and in which Figure 1 is a side view of the improved device.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2'2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view of the blank from which a part of the gun is formed.

Figure 4: is a view of the trigger plate.

Figure 5 is a view of the hammer.

In these views, 1 indicates a channelshaped supporting member and 3 indicates a U-shaped bracket which is fastened to the rear part of said member. This bracket is formed from a blank such as that shown at A in Figure 3, the wide portions of the blank being fastened to the side walls of the member 1 with the upper extensions a being curved at their upper ends and the curved parts fastened together to form a closed loop, as indicated at 1 in Figure 2. The bolt 5 which connects the bracket with the sup porting member 1 and .whloh has a spacing sleeve thereon, forms a support for the barrel 6 of the gun, which has its lower endsupported by a bracket 7, which is. pivotally supported in the lower part of the member 1 by means of the bolt .8. Thus the bracket can rock in the member 1 so that the gun barrel can be raised from a-position where it rests on the bolt 5 to a positionwhere it would strike the upper end of the loop 1. This latter position is the loading position, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. The hammer of the gun, as shown at 8, is pivoted in the member 1, as shown at 9. This hammer has its projection 10 arranged to strike the cap of the cartridge placed in the barrel when the barrel is in its lowest position. The. teat on the hammer passes through a hole 3 made in the piece 3 which connects the two parts of the blank together. The hammer is thrown against the cartridge, when the trigger mechanism to be described, is actuated, by means of a spring 11 which is fastened to the hammer and to a bolt 12 which is adapted to be placed in any one of a number of'pairs of holes 13 made in the member 1. These holes permit the tension of the spring to be adjusted. The trigger mechanism comprises a pedal-like member 14, pivoted to the lower end of member 1. as shown at 15, and having a roller 16 at its lower end which is adapted to engage a hook 17 formed 011 a rod 18 which is pivoted to the lower end of the hammer, as shown at 1.9. These parts are so formed that when the member 4 is depressed, it will release the hook 17 and thus free the rod 18 so that the 7 pivots for holding the walls of the member 1 apart.

This gun is placed in the runway or burrow of the animals after removing the dirt from a portion of the same. The gun is first turned upside down and then the hammer pulled back. Themember 1 1 will drop under the action of gravity and catch the hooked end of the rod 18 and thus hold the hammer in cocked position. The device is then turned right side up and its lower end pushed into the hole. Itis then adjusted by its leg to train the barrel on the hole. The barrel is then raised, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, and acartridge inserted,

and then the barrel is pushed back toits normal position. The gun is now set. gopher will throw dirt on any object that it encounters in its runway,vso' that when an formed in the support 1 for the bolt 8, so

that the. bracket "Z can be adjusted in said support. This will permit the barrel to be adjusted for differentkinds and sizes of animals. As will be seen, the member 14 is the first part of the trap that the animal encounters, so that it is this memberthat the animal'w-ill throw dirt upon.

Attention is called to the fact that the roller 17' is placed below and in front of the pivot 15 of the trigger plate which helps the plateto snap of]? the hook when the plate is pushed downwardly. The bolt 18 acts to limit the upward movement of the rod 18, so that it Will not move upwardly when the trigger plate 14 is depressed, and it also limits the movement of said rod when the trapis' inverted to set the same.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of our invention will be readily apparent.

We desire it to be understood that we may make changes in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is l. A trap gun comprising a supporting structure, a barrel having one end pivoted to the same, means adjacent the other end of the barrel for limiting its swinging movement, a triggerpivoted to the structure, a spring'for projecting the trigger, a pedal-like member at the front end of the structure and adapted to be depressed by an object striking the same, and means for holding the hammer in cocked position when the member is in raised position.

2'. A trap gun comprising a channelshaped supporting member, a leg pivoted to the real-end ofthe same, a bracket pivoted to the forward part'of the member, a barrel having its forward end fastened to the bracket, a support against which the rear end of the barrel rests, a spring actuated hammer carried by the. rear end of the sap porting member and adapted to explode a cartridge placed in the barrel, a pedal-like member pivoted to the forward end of the supporting member, and a rod fastened to the hammer and having a hooked end for engaging a part of the pedal-like member.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatu-res.

FRED n. SIMON. ALBERT A. siMoN. 

